Continuing to expand the feature-sets of both Photoshop and Lightroom, along with their associated apps, Adobe has just launched a host of updates to benefit individual app subscribers as well as subscribers to the Creative Cloud Photography Plan. Making full use of Creative Cloud’s consistent feature update design, these additions bring a number of new tools and processes to benefit photographers as well as accommodate a number of newly released cameras for raw file editing support.
Beginning with Lightroom, which is now in its CC 2015.6, or 6.6 for outright owners, version, the most significant update to this editing, processing, and management software is the inclusion of a Guided Upright tool. This can be used to straighten imagery, correct crooked horizons, and control perspective convergence when photographing buildings, architectural elements, or other imagery with strong horizontal and vertical lines. By using guided control instead of automated control, accuracy and consistency of level horizons and plumb verticals is greatly increased.
In addition to the Guided Upright tool, this update also incorporates raw file editing support for the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II, Leica M-D (Typ 262), Nikon COOLPIX B700, and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 cameras; camera matching color profiles for the Pentax 645Z, K-1, and K-3 II cameras; tethered camera support for the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II, 80D, and Rebel T6 DSLRs; and a host of new lens profiles.
Beyond the desktop application, Lightroom for mobile iOS 2.4 has also been released, and now includes the ability to preview raw files on your mobile device. No longer constrained to JPEG-only editing and viewing, this feature expands your on-the-go editing capabilities. Additionally, both Linear and Radial selection methods have been added. Also unique to the Apple realm, Lightroom for Apple TV is available for accessing and viewing photos via an Apple TV.
For Android users, version 2.1 of Lightroom mobile adds a new Pro mode to the in-app camera for control over shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and focus using an updated interface. Full-resolution file exporting is now supported as well. Additionally, Photoshop Mix 2.0 has also been released to Android users, which allows you to work with more than two layers at a time, blend layers for more realistic compositions, produce multiple looks per layer, and open, edit, and save files that already exist within your Creative Cloud libraries from your mobile device.
Moving over to Photoshop CC, which is now in its 2015.3 version, a trio of new features were added. A Selection and Masking Space presents a comprehensive workspace containing Visualization controls for accurate and predictive masking, a Refine Edge Brush can be used for fine-tuning edges in complex selections, and a simple brush offers straight-forward manual masking control. Content-Aware Crop has also been fully rolled out, for situations when an image no longer fully extends to the edges of the canvas after cropping or rotation. This feature utilizes the same intelligent algorithms of content-aware fill to fill in missing areas to produce a seamless image. Finally, a new Face-Aware Liquify tool meshes the retoucher-beloved capabilities of the Liquify tool with Face-Aware technology to benefit complex facial features.